Compare Oracle VM VirtualBox vs Proxmox VE (2024)

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We performed a comparison between Oracle VM VirtualBox and Proxmox VE based on our users’ reviews in four categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

• Ease of Deployment: Most Oracle VM VirtualBox users and Proxmox VE users felt that the setup and deployment of both solutions were relatively easy.

• Features: Oracle VM VirtualBox reviewers thought the software was easy to use and had great monitoring capabilities. They also liked that you can easily switch over and use it in other environments after creating a virtual machine in one environment. However, users felt the solution overall was unstable.

  Users of Proxmox VE liked that the software was easy to use and had good performance and backup service. However, users didn’t like that specific processes weren’t automatic, like manually updating, and because it's a young solution, there were some bugs.

• Pricing: Oracle VM Virtualbox reviewers were using the free version. Users of Proxmox VE found the solution very affordable.

• Service and Support: Most users of Oracle VM VirtualBox used the free online community to solve their issues, though the few that used support were happy. Most users of Proxmox VE were happy with the support, though there were a few who thought it needed improvement.

• ROI: Users of both Oracle VM VirtualBox and Proxmox VE reported seeing a great ROI.

Comparison Results: Oracle VM VirtualBox and Proxmox VE had a similar user rating regarding ease of deployment, pricing, service and support, and ROI. However, in terms of features, Oracle VM VirtualBox users felt the solution was unstable, whereas Proxmox VE users felt some bugs needed fixing.

To learn more, read our detailed Oracle VM VirtualBox vs. Proxmox VE Report (Updated: November 2023).

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"It's very simple to use.""I like that it is free and runs on Linux/Ubuntu - I wouldn't use any other solution.I am able to perform small developing tests.""The versatility, simplicity, and stability of the product are it's most valuable features.""Oracle VM VirtualBox has a platform where the support team responds to frequently asked questions by its users. Every time I have had issues with Oracle VM VirtualBox, I always get a solution from Oracle's online platform or GitHub.""The product gives us the flexibility to try different machines.""I like that it has a snapshot feature.""The most valuable feature of the solution is that there is no cost because it is open source.""It is easy to use and does not require complex knowledge."

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"Its compatibility is most valuable.""We had issues with this solution when it comes to resources. We have officially created four to five PMs and it just continues to make more resources even though they are delivered in the main post mode.""It's been a stable solution.""The most valuable feature of Proxmox VE is its ease of use.""The initial setup is straightforward.""We can access the product from iPhone 7. It is stable and easy.""The solution's maintenance part was very easy.""I have a program on my old machine with 380 events, but I need to create new events. This is much easier to do with VFXTHs, and I have the skills to do it. I also have two VPNs running on the old machine, which I can use to get started."

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"Oracle VM VirtualBox doesn't work properly with an antivirus tool.""The user interface needs to be improved.""The solution is a bit less stable than I would like.""Having live migrations to move a running server to other hardware would be great.""The product lacks scalability since it is for desktops and not for servers.""The solution is not flexible.""Oracle’s support team should improve its response time.""Basically, the GUI and command-line interface need improvement."

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"We find it difficult to find the root cause of the issues.""Proxmox VE needs improvement in cloud computing.""The scalability could be better.""It might be interesting to have the ability to integrate with other cloud solutions.""The solution can be improved by making it more secure and scalable.""We are facing issues with disk utilization and disk performance.""The tool needs to add a lot of containers.""The management can be better. It's not like VMware where you can get all clusters on a single dashboard. In VMware, you can literally see all the VMs running in one cluster regardless of the host."

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Oracle

Proxmox

Oracle VM VirtualBox is a robust AMD64/Intel64 and x86 next-generation virtualization solution that functions well for home use and is also powerful enough to handle the needs of a busy enterprise organization. This professional solution is open source and provides super-fast high performance in addition to many outstanding value-added features. VirtualBox functions effectively on Windows, macOS, Solaris, Linux, and more. Users can benefit from VirtualBox's dedication to continually developing the product and providing continual progressive updates and releases. The solution is supported by a trusted dedicated professional community and is backed by Oracle, which guarantees that the product is able to consistently meet and exceed quality controls and protocols at all times.

Oracle VM VirtualBox Features

Oracle VM Virtual Box provides many value-added features. Some of these features include:

• Consolidation: Oracle VM VirtualBox makes it easy for users to seamlessly run numerous virtual machines on a small number of hosts and will also facilitate comprehensive balancing of the loads between VMs. This helps to minimize and consolidate the hardware needed throughout the organization.
  
• Diagnostics: VirtualBox provides excellent testing and disaster recovery. Users can use the virtual hard disk like a container. This container can be copied, frozen, backed up, or transported between hosts. Using the virtual machines (VMs), users can easily test multi-node network services for any networking, software configuration, or operating system issues.
  
• Snapshots: Using snapshots, users are able to save or freeze a specific state of a VM and choose to revert back to the protected state if/when they desire. Users are able to make changes or experiment within the computing space. Should a problem arise, users can revert back to the selected snapshot; this makes the need for frequent backups and restores unnecessary.
  
• Flexibility: The solution makes it easy to run different operating systems (OSes) at the same time. Users can run software designed for one OS on another OS. For example, users can easily run Windows on a MAC and not have to perform a reboot. As users can configure the kinds of virtual hardware to be presented with each OS, there is greater flexibility on which OS can be selected, and users can even choose older OSes or ones that are not currently supported by the original OS.
  
• Cost-effective: Virtualization with Oracle VM VirtualBox enables users to considerably minimize overall costs by reducing the amount of hardware needed and the associated expenses of running the physical machines throughout an organization. This tremendous cost savings results in ROI being achieved in a very short period of time.

Reviews from Real Users

“Oracle VM VirtualBox is easy to use and does not require much training. It uses fewer resources. Teams using new operating system releases can quickly test and implement. This would make the development of new software releases faster and easier. It also helps users to write the program, test, and support it on multiple platforms. It has a good community as it is open-source.” - Satishbabu G., Oracle ACE

“It is easy to use and does not require complex knowledge. It uses less resources, which is a requirement as it is used to onboard hardware with very little resources available.” - A PeerSpot user who is an IT Architect - AI at CGI

Proxmox VE is a complete virtualization management solution for servers. It is a powerful open-source platform and supports two virtualization technologies - KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) for virtual machines and LXC for containers. Proxmox VE has a central user interface that allows you to manage not only VMs and containers, but also storage resources, network configuration, and high availability for clusters. It is enterprise-ready and is valued for its scalability and maximum flexibility, enabling you to virtualize very demanding workloads. Proxmox VE makes it possible for you to easily install, manage, and monitor hyper-converged (HCI) data centers.

Proxmox VE Key Features

Proxmox VE Benefits

Some of the biggest benefits of Proxmox VE are:

• Central management: To manage all tasks of your virtual data center, you can use the central, web-based management interface.
• Unique multi-master design: Proxmox VE allows you to carry out maintenance tasks cluster wide, from any node.
• Minimize downtime: With the integrated live/online migration feature, you can move running virtual machines from one Proxmox VE cluster node to another, without any downtime or noticeable effect from the end-user side.
• Granular access: Using Proxmox VE’s role-based permission management system helps you define granular access to all objects.
• Multiple authentication sources: Proxmox VE supports multiple authentication sources, including Linux PAM, an integrated Proxmox VE authentication server, LDAP, Microsoft Active Directory, and OpenID Connect.
• Several storage options: The Proxmox VE storage model is very flexible and the web interface allows you to add multiple storage types (LVM Group, iSCSI target, NFS Share, SMB/CIFS, Ceph RBD, Direct to iSCSI LUN, GlusterFS, CephFS).
• Collaboration with Ceph: Proxmox VE fully integrates Ceph, giving you the ability to run and manage Ceph storage directly from any of your cluster nodes.
• Scheduled backups: With Proxmox VE, backups can be scheduled so that they automatically run on specific days and times, for selectable nodes and guest systems.
• IT infrastructure protection: Proxmox VE has a built-in firewall that works to protect your IT infrastructure. The firewall is completely customizable, allowing complex configurations via the GUI or CLI.

Reviews From Real Users

Here is some feedback from some of our users who are currently using the solution:

A PeerSpot user who is a director at a tech services company says, “The most valuable features of Proxmox VE are the ease of containerization. Overall the solution is generic, feature-rich, and has compatibility.”

Another PeerSpot user who is a head of IT operations at a tech services company mentions that "In addition to the virtualization, the firewall and the routing functions that it provides are valuable."